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Saturday, January 12, 2013

SOME THINGS TO CELEBRATE

I have found that it is important for me to find joy in as
many things as I can because it helps me cope with the stress in my life. One of
my biggest sources of delight is my younger son, Kope. He constantly keeps me
laughing and enjoying my days, even though he is a little rascal. I am warning
you that I’m going to be bragging about my son a little bit. You see, having a
child with so many difficulties warps my view of my other son. He is meeting
his developmental milestones as most children his age do, but to me he is a GENIUS! Please forgive me for
showing off my son who is a typical almost-2-year-old. =)

Kope is now 23 months old. Boy how time flies! Yesterday he
was freaking out when he woke up from him nap. I quickly went in to see what
the matter was. He was standing up with a very concerned look on his face and
pointing down at his mattress. He said “Eew”! I looked down and there was a
yellow stain of fresh urine. What a smart boy! He was in a hurry to get out of
that bed.

Kope has started to say a few full sentences already.
Yesterday he clearly stated, “I need a drink”. I thought, “WHAT?!?! Did he
really just say that?” I went over and grabbed him and threw him around,
whooping with joy.

A few days ago, Kope was getting into the groceries on the
floor. He looked at me mischievously, expecting me to get angry. Instead I
said, “Thank you Kope! You are such a big helper! Thanks for giving that to
mommy!” I continued this as he picked up each and every item out of about 8
grocery bags and brought them over to me, including six 2 liter bottles of diet
coke. He struggled with the first bottle, but by the last one he had figured
out how to get it up and hold it with both arms which made the 10 foot walk
much easier. When he was all done I said, “stones” at which point we bumped
fists and then spread our fingers like the bump made an explosion. This is
always accompanied with an explosion sound of course.

Now this next celebration may not be one that many people
understand. My sons have started to hit each other, yell at each other and
tackle each other. I know what many of you are thinking…”How is THAT something
to celebrate?” Well, what this means to me is that not only is Kope acting
developmentally appropriate, but Nami has moments that he is able to interact more
typically as well. I was laughing so hard this morning when my boys started
fighting over their breakfasts. They each had the exact samething(minusnomilkon Nami’scereal):Corn Chex and an orange. For some reason, they started
trying to take each others' food…pretty typical around here. Kope tried to grab
some of Nami’s food and Nami responded by hitting Kope. They both ended up
yelling at each other. I sat them both in a timeout. I put them there so
quickly that they ended up being right across the room from each other. They
both stayed put for about 60 seconds before Nami looked at Kope and said,“Sorry”.
That was my cue to end the time out. I told them they needed to be gentle with
each other. Then they met in the middle of the room, each said “sorry”, and
then hugged and kissed. I could NOT believe my eyes. This seemed like a very
normal moment amongst constant abnormality in our home.

My favorite thing that Kope has done lately is Tongan dancing. A few weeks ago I walked into the family room to find him
dancing with a stick. I turned to Salesi and said, “It looks like Kope is doing
the Tongan warrior dance” (kailao). He replied, “He is. We do it all the time”.
I have included a video here for your enjoyment: (He doesn’t quite have the spinning and catching-the-stick
down yet so he practices near the couch.)

He is not just any boy to us. We adore him over here. I'm so glad we live close by and get to enjoy him and the rest of your family so much. The video is so great. I love Salesi's laughing and the way Kope is admiring his daddy. Thanks for sharing!

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About Me

I’ve finally decided to put it out there…cathartic for me and possibly helpful to someone else. I have often felt the urge to share our stories but feared being vulnerable. The experiences I share in my blog have had a profound effect on my life and made me who I am today. Even though I never thought I would write a blog (my writing skills are not that great, I use too many of these “!” and these “…”), I feel compelled to try, even if it is only useful to me and possibly my family.